Street, pavement cafés and furniture

A street, pavement café and furniture licence, commonly known as an Alfresco Dining licence, is a temporary licence which allows you to place outdoor dining furniture on the highway. Highway land is specified as any carriageway, footway or verge adopted by Cheshire East Highways.

We need a minimum of 10 working days’ notice to review, consult and process your licence.

Once the licence has been issued, this will be valid for 2 years from the date of issue.

Apply for an alfresco dining licence

You can apply for a temporary alfresco licence to put furniture on pedestrian parts of the adopted highway using our quick and simple process.

We cannot grant a licence for premises on private or unadopted roads or land which is not a pedestrianised part of an adopted highway. You must check that you are on an adopted road by checking our road gazetteer.

Only the named person responsible for the main premises using the outside space can apply for this licence. You do not need to seek planning permission for a temporary licence.

To apply you will need:

• As part of your application, you will need to ensure you attach a site plan of the proposed seating area showing basic dimensions. You will also be required to provide proof of public liability insurance covering at least £5m.

Fees and charges

Initial licence for 24 months:

• Up to 6 seats: £150

• More than 6 seats: £500

Annual renewal:

• Up to 6 seats: £150
• More than 6 seats: £350

All fees and charges must be paid online when submitting the application form.

Refunds will be available for both, however an admin fee of £110 will be deducted.

To find out how we use your information see our privacy notice (opens in a new window).

If you have any questions call 0300 123 5020 or email: highwayslicences@cheshireeasthighways.org

You will need to print the notice at the end of your application or download the PDF to print, sign and display.

After you apply

Your application will be processed within 10 working days.

In the meantime you will need to display a notice advertising your application at the premises for 5 working days from submission of the application. You can print this from the second email you received from ‘citizen hub’.

If we receive any objections we will contact you to see if we can grant the licence with or without changes.

Once the licence has been issued, this will be valid for 2 years from the date of issue.

If you have any questions call 0300 123 5020 or email: highwayslicences@cheshireeasthighways.org

Contact Highways